XN000022-1985-01-09 — Page 14

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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 9, 1985

+ IF SUCH CALLS ARE HEEDED, HONG KONG WILL NOT SURVIVE AS A DYNAMIC AND NON-INSTITUTIONALISED CARING SOCIETY, SAID MISS DUNN.

TURNING TO THE CONSENSUAL APPROACH, MISS DUNN SAID ON THE

WHOLE, HONG KONG HAD BEEN GOVERNED ON THIS BASIS.

WE HAD, GENERALLY SPEAKING, AVOIDED ADVERSARIAL POLITICS, THAT WAS TO SAY POLITICS WHICH TENDED EITHER TO PERSONALISE ISSUES OR TO LOSE SIGHT OF THE POLICY OBJECTIVES IN A WELTER OF ARGUMENT.

WE DID NOT WASTE TIME OR HUMAN EFFORT ON EXTRANEOUS ISSUES AND, BECAUSE OF THE ABSENCE OF ADVERSARIAL POLITICS, WE HAD BEEN FREE TO TACKLE ISSUES HEAD ON AND AVOID THOSE CORRUPTIVE FORCES WHICH HAD PLAGUED THE POLITICAL LIFE OF SO MANY COUNTRIES, EAST AND WEST.

+TO ACHIEVE A TRUE CONSENSUS REQUIRES THE SEEKING OUT OF WILLING AND ABLE REPRESENTATIVES OF A BROAD SPECTRUM OF INTERESTS AND VIEWS.

+ IT IS PERHAPS ARGUABLE WHETHER UNDER OUR SYSTEM OF NOMINATED APPOINTMENTS SUCH PEOPLE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN IDENTIFIED.

+ BE THAT AS IT MAY, HONG KONG PEOPLE WILL NOW HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO OFFER THEMSELVES FOR PUBLIC OFFICE, BUT IF ON BEING ELECTED THEY DISCARD THE REALITIES OF OUR ECONOMIC

SITUATION, IF THEY CARELESSLY SEEK TO INVOKE THE AID OF GOVERNMENT FOR SECTIONAL INTERESTS, AND IF THEY REJECT THE CONSENSUAL APPROACH, THEN WOE BETIDE THE ECONOMIC PROSPERITY AND SOCIAL STABILITY OF THIS CITY OF OURS, SHE SAID.

ON THE ABSENCE OF DIVISIVE FORCES, MISS DUNN SAID HONG KONG HAD A STABLE AND HARMONIOUS COMMUNITY WHICH MATCHED, SHE BELIEVED, THE CONSENSUAL TRADITION IN GOVERNMENT.

THERE WAS A CONVERGENCE HERE OF PEOPLE OF MANY RACES AND BELIEFS WHICH IN PART REFLECTED, AND IN PART HAD CONFERRED UPON, HONG KONG THAT INTERNATIONAL DIMENSION WITHOUT WHICH HONG KONG WOULD NOT BE A MAJOR CENTRE OF COMMERCE, INDUSTRY AND FINANCE.

+OUR FUTURE WOULD INDEED BE IN JEOPARDY IF, BY ONE ROUTE OR ANOTHER, DIVISIVE FORCES BEGIN TO EMERGE, SHE SAID.

MISS DUNN DESCRIBED THE GOVERNMENT'S STATED INTENTIONS IN THE WHITE PAPER AS TIMELY AND RELEVANT TO HONG KONG'S CIRCUMSTANCES.

+BUT AS WE CONSIDER THE POLITICAL CHANGE ENVISAGED IN THE SINO-BRITISH AGREEMENT AND AS WE EMBARK UPON THE FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT IN HONG KONG, WE SHOULD SEEK TO ENSURE THAT THIS NEW PHASE IN OUR HISTORY DOES NOT INVOLVE A SHARP BREAK WITH THE PAST.

+THAT IS TO SAY, WHATEVER MAY BE THE ULTIMATE FORM AND STRUCTURE OF THE GOVERNMENT IN HONG KONG, WE MUST PRESERVE THE HONG KONG STYLE AND THE HONG KONG SYSTEM INTACT, SHE SAID.

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